Google Inc. (GOOG) will give its competitors access to the out-of-print books it is making available online through its Google Books platform, the company's chief legal officer told members of Congress Thursday.

"Google will host the digital books online, and retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore will be able to sell access to users on any Internet-connected device they choose," David Drummond, Google's top lawyer, said in a statement that was released during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Drummond said the company's rivals would get much of the revenue when they re-sold out-of-print books that are made available by Google.

Lawmakers called the hearing to examine Google's pending legal settlement with authors and publishers that would allow the company to make millions of digitized books available on the Internet.

Drummond, attempting to alleviate concern that the agreement would give Google too much power in the digital-books market, said the company's legal settlement was fully compliant with copyright law and would improve the public's access to millions of titles.

Google reached the settlement deal last year, agreeing to pay $125 million to establish a registry to allow authors and publishers to register their works and get paid when their titles are viewed online.

The search giant came under strong criticism at Thursday's hearing from the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, who told lawmakers that key parts of the Google agreement "are fundamentally at odds with the law."

Marybeth Peters, the register of copyrights, said in written testimony that the Copyright Office was particularly concerned that the settlement would allow Google to display and distribute out-of-print books without prior consent from the copyright owners of those books.

"To allow a commercial entity to sell such works without consent is an end-run around copyright law as we know it," Peters said.

"In the view of the Copyright Office, the settlement proposed by the parties would encroach on responsibility for copyright policy that traditionally has been the domain of Congress," she said.

The settlement must be approved by a New York federal judge, who has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 7 to consider the matter. Supporters and critics of the settlement have flooded the court with comments on the pending agreement.

Antitrust regulators at the U.S. Department of Justice also are looking at the settlement. The judge has set a Sept. 18 deadline for the department to file its views with the court.

The House Judiciary Committee heard Thursday from several supporters and critics of the Google book search settlement.

Among the witnesses was Paul Misener, Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) vice president for global public policy, who continued the online bookseller's attack on the settlement. Misener told lawmakers that the deal would have enduring negative consequences for consumers and Google's competitors.

Amazon filed a brief in the New York court last week, arguing that the agreement would increase how much consumers pay for digital books and undermine Congress's role in amending copyright law to address changes in technology.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@dowjones.com